A couple friends of mine live in a funky warehouse in St Peters where a whole lot of events take place. Given they're both climbers, canyoners, bushwalkers, etc, they've decided to organise an event that brings together Sydney-based outdoorsy types. It'll be a chance to share a few beers, hear some interesting stories, watch some short outdoors films, and generally cross-pollinate and inspire new adventures. The first event takes place next Thursday (September 12), and they're hoping it can become a monthly thing. The event is completely free, with beer and a BBQ by donation. Feel free to invite anyone else you think might be interested.
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On the 12th of September, from 7.30pm, we’re hosting what we hope will become a monthly meet up of Sydney’s outdoors community and local adventurers.

On the night we’ll have talks by:

Lucky Chance
Whether it’s his free solo climbs, epic BASE jumps, or his antics on the death swing, everyone’s seen footage, read about, or heard of Lucky’s exploits. Rock climber, BASE jumper, circus acrobat and high liner, Lucky Chance will be taking us through a selection of his adventures around the world. Got a question? Go for it, he's assured us nothing is sacred.

Deborah Johnston
Ever wondered what depths a desperate person will sink to when struck by ‘virgin cave fever’? Well wonder no longer as Deborah Johnston from SUSS awes and horrifies with a tale of struggle, filth, discovery and glory from a cave diving expedition in the Nullarbor Plains.

There’ll also be a screening of a short (outdoorsy) film, slack lines, beer, a BBQ, maps and note pads for recording new trip ideas, and a ball pit!

What to bring:
- Ideas for new trips
- Any mates you have who might be interested
- Your own liquor, or money for a donation to have some of ours
- Money for the BBQ

Where is it?
- The Hutch, a warehouse just up the road from St Peters climbing gym: 12 Hutchinson St, St Peters

On the 17th of October, from 7.30pm – ‘til late, we’re hosting the second Adventure Time, a FREE monthly meet up of Sydney’s outdoors community and local adventurers.

On the night we’ll have talks by:

Glenn Singleman - Professional Adventuring - a contradiction in terms?

Glen is an internationally recognised professional adventurer. He is probably best known for his BASE-climb exploits and has successfully climbed and then BASE-jumped from some of the highest cliffs on the planet. Glen and his wife Heather currently hold the official record for the highest BASE jump in the world. Tonight, he will be speaking to us about professional adventuring; whether adventurers have 'use by' dates like many other sports people and if it possible to be an adventurer and have a mortgage or children or a steady job. He will address these questions with a run through some of the 'professional' adventures that he has been involved with over the years.
For more information on Glenn, check out his website: http://www.baseclimb.com/

Patrick Spiers - How I learned to stop worrying and love the wind

Pat is an Australian Geographic sponsored adventurer who has travelled across some of the most isolated landscapes in the world with his sled and kite. Pat will take us on a climbers journey into the beautiful world of remote snowkiting and kitesledding, with a few bruising anecdotes along the way. How I learned to stop worrying and love the wind

Film Screening:

We are very excited to announce that we will be screening the movie “Down The Line”. This is a short film on canyoneering, which has a bit of everything, from exploration, big waterfalls and deep gorges, to commitment and friendship. Adventure Time has been given special access to the film, which hasn’t yet been released. Check out the trailer at: http://deruydtsphotography.wordpress.com/tag/canyoneering/

On the 21st of November, from 7.30pm – ‘til late, we’ll be hosting Adventure Time, a monthly meet up of Sydney’s outdoors community and local adventurers.

On the night we’ll have talks by:

Mike Law aka “the Claw” – Sand or sanity?
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For the Australian climbers out there, Mike Law hardly needs an introduction. Mike has been climbing hard grades since the 70’s, before cams and modern belay devices existed and when free soloing was often just as safe as being “on rope”. He has ticked routes into the 30’s and if you have climbed in the Bluies, chances are that you have been on one of the thousands of routes put up by this colourful character. Tonight, he will be talking about some of his experiences climbing on sea cliffs.

Also, check out his newly released autobiographical book: “Law Unto Himself”. If you are lucky, he might even sign a few copies...

Clark Carter and Andrew Johnson – A Journey down the Sepik
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Clark Carter is a passionate adventurer and adventure filmmaker who has experienced parts of the globe that very few ever have. At just 21 he attempted to make the first complete traverse of Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic, using homemade wheeled kayaks. He completed this journey in 2008, on his second attempt, receiving the spirit of Adventure Award from the Australian Geographic society for his efforts. More recently, Clark spent 40 days skiing from the North Pole to Canada, sending out live footage of the trip every day. Andrew Johnson is no stranger to adventure either. In 2007 he rowed from New Zealand to Sydney in a 7m row boat. He rowed across Bass Strait as training for this, and he’s also a regular competitor in expedition length adventure races. In short, he’s one tough dude.

Clark and Andrew will be talking about a journey they undertook in 2010, down PNG’s longest river - the Sepik. They spent 5 weeks travelling 1,200 km’s from source to sea, primarily in a dugout canoe.

Bonus features:
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As usual, we will also have a slack line (provided by http://pureslacklines.com/) and, there will be alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and cider (available by donation). You may also BYO.

Where is it?
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The Hutch, a warehouse just up the road from St Peters climbing gym.

On 5/11/2013 Superstu wrote:>"The two adventurers spent six weeks ... where they encounters .... villages>that no white man had ever seen.">>>Oh come on. Did you also outrun blood thirsty cannibals, shoot a few thieving>pygmies, and rescue the missionary's daughter held captive by the natives??

I tend to second that sentiment.

& On 5/11/2013 E. Wells wrote:>Yes
Not funny, as you are way off the mark.

Having spent 3 years measuring flows in PNG rivers including the Sepik (regularly) at various points from source to sea in the late 70's / early 80's, I considered myself a 'johnny come lately' in the adventure stakes for that area, at that time!
The Sepik was/is considered a major navigable river for the most part and much of the early 'white man' exploration took place along it's length as it provided relatively easy access to the interior. Even its tributaries dwarf Australian rivers like the Murray...

From the link provided;>Once on the river, the pair almost drowned in the rapids as the river rushed down from the mountains.

I assume this is the major set of waterfalls not too far below Telefomin ...
If anyone manages to navigate those in any craft, and lives to tell the tale, then I might start to consider them an explorer!

Again from the link provided;>they encounters impenetrable jungle
?
The locals, and thousands of Japanese soldiers who trekked that way during the second world war, along with the allied troops who pursued them, would likely differ with that opinion...

~> It is maybe a good thing I am too far away to attend the event, otherwise I might be tempted to ask some hard questions...
;-)

Actually I couldn't give a rats whether they were the first waitman to visit a particular village (extremely unlikely), what I find incredulous that a young, educated australian can think that just because a country is full of people with dark skins that some whiteys exploring remote villages is an 'important first'. As well as the steady traffic of people moving about for family ties, there are png government officials, mine workers, health workers, carving buyers, church folk and everybody else traveling the muddy tracks and rivers visiting these villages all the time. They are usually just not white and come from rich countries.

On 7/11/2013 Superstu wrote:>Actually I couldn't give a rats whether they were the first waitman to>visit a particular village (extremely unlikely), what I find incredulous>that a young, educated australian can think that just because a country>is full of people with dark skins that some whiteys exploring remote villages>is an 'important first'. As well as the steady traffic of people moving>about for family ties, there are png government officials, mine workers,>health workers, carving buyers, church folk and everybody else traveling>the muddy tracks and rivers visiting these villages all the time. They>are usually just not white and don't live in rich countries.

When I was in rural China, I'm pretty sure I was the first white man a lot of the school kids had seen, maybe second or third. They probably hadn't seen many non-locals at their young age.
I've never seen a person from Pitcairn Island.

On 7/11/2013 martym wrote:>When I was in rural China, I'm pretty sure I was the first white man a>lot of the school kids had seen, maybe second or third. They probably hadn't>seen many non-locals at their young age.>I've never seen a person from Pitcairn Island.

?
So you are saying the remoteness of a village is a direct correlation to the age of the viewers of visitors, within it?

I have never seen a boulderer at the base of Ozymandias...
Heh, heh, heh ;-)
☻

On 7/11/2013 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:>On 7/11/2013 martym wrote:>>When I was in rural China, I'm pretty sure I was the first white man>a>>lot of the school kids had seen, maybe second or third. They probably>hadn't>>seen many non-locals at their young age.>>I've never seen a person from Pitcairn Island.>>?>So you are saying the remoteness of a village is a direct correlation>to the age of the viewers of visitors, within it?

I am reminded of my late sister-in-law who after finishing Uni in the late 70s visited PNG with her girlfriend. One of the white blokes in one of the big towns in the highlands jokingly suggested that a canoe trip down one of the major rivers would be a good experience for two young women. They realised he was joking but thought "stuff you, mate, we're not helpless females" and just went and did it, getting rides from village to village and had a great time.

On 8/11/2013 kieranl wrote:
"...getting rides from village to village and had a great time."

That's actually the best way to travel through PNG with minimum hassle and most safety, using a chain of introductions. Once invited onto someone's land, they will care and look after you obsessively (much like we might when a long lost relative comes to visit from overseas). They will travel with you across their land and when they near the end of their land they will pass you on to friends or family in the next village, and so on. Its when people try to travel independently that troubles arise with banditry and indifference, and its incredibly slow going rocking up to a village unannounced and tracking down the bigman, developing a rapport and arranging to stay or pass on through. And if you happen to stumble into a village with a heavy going on (a sort of internal conflict) then things can go pear shaped for no obvious reason. Similarly, travelling with guides who aren't from the area is also a recipe for problems (such as the case was with the Australian tourists on the black cat track that ran into trouble recently).

I've heard that adventurous backpackers have been making something of a trade route out of the journey up the Sepik river, crossing the Star Mountains and descending down the Fly river. I can't imagine doing that solo without using a chain of introductions.

Now if you're going to re-live the golden age of european exploration you might as well do it in style... We met this French guy who had been travelling down the Sepik for two months already and still had 500km to go. Love the explorer's outfit and trusty native companion standing up doing the paddling! (It's not an old photo, I was just playing with B&W in the last dying days of film photography)

Gemma and Natasha have climbed together in some of the more remote mountain ranges around the world, often seeking new lines and untrodden summits. Their adventures range from the snow and ice of the Bolivian Andes, new rock routes in the Schweizerland Mountains in Greenland, and first ascents in the Miyar Valley in the Indian Himalaya (for which the pair received Australian Geographic's 'Spirit of Adventure Award'). They will be talking about their latest adventure that saw them venture into a rarely visited region in east Greenland where they made several first ascents of peaks in the area and then flew from the summits with paragliders. For more info, check out their website: http://nunataks.info/About_us.html

Allie Pepper – Australian mountaineer

Allie Pepper is a high-altitude mountaineer who has climbed numerous peaks in New Zealand, the Andes and Himalaya. In 2007 she stood on her first 8000mt peak, Cho Oyu in Tibet, and was the second Australian female to do so without the use of supplementary oxygen. More recently, in 2011, she achieved her dream of successfully climbing the world’s highest mountain, Mt Everest. After a period of living as a mountaineering guide in South America she now works as an outdoor leader, trainer and assessor in the Blue Mountains, where she grew up. She is passionate about adventure, exercise and living a healthy lifestyle and tonight will be giving a general talk on her adventures and motivations. For more info, check out her website: http://www.alliepepper.com

GEAR TESTING BY MIKE LAW:

Australian climbing icon Mike Law (a speaker at last month’s Adventure Time), will be making another appearance, and will be testing (breaking) climbing gear for your enjoyment.

FILM SCREENING:

We will be screening the Australian premier of kayaker Ben Stookesberry’s latest film: ‘Walled in’. This film follows Ben and Chris Korbulic as they attempt to run the Marble Fork of the Kaweah in Sequoia National Park. The mission involved an eight-day portage and vertical epic of establishing a sporty big-wall traverse, then a five-hour descent into a never-before-run, two-thousand-foot deep canyon with no potential for escape. What could possibly go wrong? 'Walled In' world premiered at the 2013 Banff Mountain Film Festival (USA), but hasn’t yet been screened internationally.
Trailer: http://blog.eddiebauer.com/2013/07/30/epic-clips-walled-in-by-ben-stookesberry/

BONUS FEATURES:

As usual, we will also have a slack line (provided by http://pureslacklines.com/) and, alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and cider (by donation). You may also BYO.

AND make sure you send an email to our mailing list if you want to keep updated about future Adventure Time events: adventuretimesydney@gmail.com